Subject: Adult Little Blue Heron portrait, Egretta caerulea

Location: Assateague National Seashore, Chincoteague, Virginia

Stock Number: 08-42901

Comments: This adult Little Blue Heron is standing on one leg, having tucked the other one up out of sight.

In this species the birds typically breed for the first time at two or three years of age. The male gathers nesting material, large twigs and sticks, and the nest itself has been described as a "sloppy platform."

The young are almost naked at birth, and both parents work to feed them.

Related image: Little Blue Heron preening, from the same time and place: